The Georgia General Assembly recently approved the Transportation Funding Act of 2015 (HB 170), which provides a long-term funding plan that would allow repair and maintenance of the state’s roads and bridges.
The bill addresses a $1 billion funding shortfall so that maintenance and modernization projects can be carried out while reducing the state’s backlog of projects. It also includes measures of transparency and oversight to make sure the state’s Department of Transportation is properly run.
The bill also includes measures that charge the owners of alternative fuel vehicles an annual fee of $200 or $300 depending on whether the vehicles are personal or commercial. Tax credits for electric vehicles and low-emission vehicles are set to be repealed with this bill. Commercial trucks will be charged a fee of either $50 or $100 depending on weight.
The taxes that will be utilized toward transportation funding will be converted to an exclusive excise tax of $0.26 per gallon of gasoline and $0.29 for diesel fuel.
Other taxes would be charged for hotel rooms and plane tickets as well.
Gov. Nathan Deal has indicated that he will sign the bill into law.
